BATON ROUGE – Coach Trent Johnson met with the media Tuesday as the LSU men’s basketball team prepared to play under the national spotlight as ESPN comes to town Thursday to televise the 8 p.m. matchup with Western Division leader Alabama at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will also be available on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and at www.LSUsports.net/live.
It will be Student Point Night for LSU students hoping to build points they can use toward football ticket priority and the student lounge will be open pre-game featuring food and drink from Acme Oyster House. Halftime is the Red Panda Acrobat Act.
LSU Basketball can be followed on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.
Here are some of the comments of Coach Johnson at today’s media session:
Opening Statement …
“The Arkansas game was disappointing from the standpoint that we made so much improvement, but then there was a four-minute period there right before the half where it was just a total collapse in terms of taking care of the ball and just doing the fundamental things.
“We’re playing a really good basketball team (in Alabama) that I think is an NCAA tournament team, without question. Alabama has pretty much had their way with us since I’ve been here. We need to play well and we need to shoot the ball, it’s the same old drill.”
On if the team has to start the game strong to win since it struggles late in games …
“I think we have to get off to good starts because we don’t have a team that has ‘come-from-behind’ power. We’re not able to generate a lot of fast break opportunities because of an inability to defend. The first time we played Arkansas it was 31-17 (at the half) and then we held on for dear life. Pretty much all of our games have been like that, and that’s why I go back to Ole Miss which was a game that we were back-and-forth and we were able to stay within striking distance. The bottom line is we have to be close to our best with our margin of error, and it has been like that all year.”
On if Alabama being at the top of the division is a surprise …
“I think the coaches pretty much knew how talented they are and how special they were. They have a nucleus of guys that are really good athletes that have been together and were part of Mark Gottfried’s recruiting. Now they have really bought into (Anthony) Grant’s system. JaMychal Green, (Tony) Mitchell, (Charvez) Davis and then you add in (Trevor) Releford with an experienced group, it’s not a surprise to me. I just felt like the key to a lot of teams in our league was staying healthy. If you look at when they lost some games in non-conference, it was because Green and Davis weren’t around. They’ve got a special talented group, no question.”
On the fundamental mistakes being made …
“Here’s what I’m talking about. At Arkansas we have 14 turnovers at halftime, and eight of them are by our post guys. Stepping on the base line, traveling calls, using the wrong pivot foot, catch and throw error and those kinds of things. What we’re talking about is when you watch the video and it’s the same thing over and over again. Is it whom you’re playing against, pressure, or something else? Ultimately it comes back to the player and team that you are. It’s part of a team that hasn’t been together going into this year, and a situation of not having a lot of success in terms of win-loss. It has been very inconsistent in that regard.”
On if he is comfortable with Matt Derenbecker staring along with the other freshmen …
“I’m comfortable with him, no question. Going into this year we were going to have five of them and right now Chris (Bass) has taken a step backwards in terms of decisions with the ball and Aaron (Dotson) is having trouble shooting the ball. I’m real comfortable with Matt, Ralston (Turner) and Andre (Stringer) starting, and then Aaron and Chris coming off the bench.”
On if it’s going to take a player stepping up in the final minutes of the game …
“It’s going to take a lot of that. It’s going to take guys making shots, making plays and feeling comfortable in their roles. It’s going to take guys getting confidence and knocking down shots. It’s a process. Against Ole Miss the difference in that game was a senior that’s an all-league player in Chris Warren. You go back to the Mississippi State game at home and the difference in that game was a one-on-one matchup between an all-league guy in Dee Bost against a freshman guard. The more you are put in those situations the more you will hopefully be able to break through. As hard as it is sometimes you have to tip your hat to the opponent on the other team.”
On the mental toughness of the freshmen …
“I have not seen Ralston (Turner), Andre (Stringer) and Matt (Derenbecker) back away from any situations since they’ve been here. Have they struggled at times? Yes, but they’ve come back the next day in practice. You look at the guys on this team that are not tentative, the guys who will step up and take the shot, it’s them. When you look at assist to turnover ratio those guys are right up there. That speaks to how they are staying the course and improving. Yes there will be some inconsistencies because of who you are playing against sometimes, but they have stayed the course to try and get better. Have I seen them getting better? Yes I have.”